​Amazon accused of allowing children to buy goods online without parental consent

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has accused Amazon of not password protecting in-app purchases and thus allowing children to spend millions of dollars from their parents’ accounts. Thousands of users want compensation for unauthorized transactions.

“Amazon’s in-app
system allowed children to incur unlimited charges on their
parents’ accounts without permission,” Bloomberg quotes
Edith Ramirez, the FTC Chairwoman. “Even Amazon’s own
employees recognized the serious problem its process
created.”

The majority of the applications involved were designed for young
people, and the spending was connected to virtual goods like
shields and guns used in games.

Amazon charges a 30 percent commission on all payments processed
through its online shop.

The online giant claims it doesn't agree with the prosecution and
intends to challenge it in a court.

The company considers its practice is similar to Apple. The
iPhone manufacturer had been accused of not asking for payment
confirmation within 15 minutes of the first purchase being
processed.

Apple settled the claim in January compensating customers $32.5 million and
changed the system of require parental consent for purchases.